Fix on way for the leaning beacon of Paeroa

The Paeroa RSA was told it would be another three months before a belisha beacon that was hit by a car and left to lean against its building would be repaired.
But a fix looks to be on the horizon, with Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency claiming all will be resolved come Wednesday.
The belisha beacon – a yellow-coloured globe lamp atop a tall black and white striped pole, marking the pedestrian crossings of roads – was hit by a car before Christmas and left to lean against Paeroa’s historic RSA on Belmont Rd.
“A truck backed into our spouting and damaged it, and we realised then that the spouting was in bad condition so we’d replace the whole lot, but we couldn’t replace it with the pole leaning against the building,” RSA president John Hallett said.
“I thought: ‘Oh well, they’ll fix it shortly’ and that’s when they came along and cemented it into the ground.”
John understood the beacon was concreted in place to make it safe for pedestrians, but he sent a “polite but rather pointed” email to the transport agency asking for it to be rectified.
“After six months of us waiting, they told us it would take another three months to be able to source the parts,” he said.
Hauraki District Council was also aware of the issue, with Mayor Toby Adams telling The Profile council had “encouraged as nicely as we can” for Waka Kotahi to fix the issue as it was “their pole on their highway”.
“It’s disappointing when it’s something as visual as that in the main street of a town. It makes it look like it’s unloved,” he said.
“There’s enough stuff we haven’t got control of, but you’d think that NZTA would step up and get this one rectified as soon as they can.”
After receiving an email about the issue from The Profile on February 29, Waka Kotahi’s system manager Waikato Andy Oakley said a repair was on its way.
“Unfortunately [a belisha beacon is] not an item our contractors have in stock and we’ve had to wait for a replacement. We’ve just heard today that its arrived and the replacement is scheduled to take place on March 6.
“In the meantime,” he said, “we’ve requested that our contractors take a look at the concreting job and ensure there is no additional damage or risk until the replacement beacon can be installed.”